The global major appliances market grew by 3% in 2021, recovering from tepid
growth of 0.3% in 2020.
What are the trends shaping the industry? Consumers had two years with on-and-off lockdowns to consider the appliances
they wanted to have at home. In the early part of 2020, the focus was on food
storage and hygiene-related appliances. Starting from mid-year, as consumers
experimented with cooking at home, the focus shifted towards cooking appliances,
small and major.
If you also foresee the opportunity and plan to embark on your own business
this year, the following points will help you set up your business in a proper
and profitable way in 2022.
The study from Research and Others
When you take the plunge to start a household appliance store from scratch,
the first step you need to do is to figure out if there's demand for your
product or service. Do a competitive analysis. And create a plan to
differentiate your offering.
When it comes to this kind of research, you’d better attach importance to
others’ experiences. Suppose you have such a kind of acquaintance, you should
avail of their knowledge and experience to the full.
Registration & Licensing
Generally, all businesses that wish to conduct business should form their
legal entity by filing appropriate taxes, registering as an employer, and
obtaining business licenses and other permits from appropriate cities or
counties. Depending on your business type there may be additional permits,
licenses or certifications that your business needs to acquire. Take the
household appliance industry as an example, different countries or locations
require a different certificate on quality, energy assumption and so on. Thus,
when you decided to run a home appliance store, you are required to acquire
those kinds of licenses and certificates as you site for your store.
Store Location
Of all the things in your marketing mix, your store’s site is the biggest
predictor of success—or failure.
When choosing a city or state to locate your retail store, research the area
thoroughly before making a final decision. You should have information on the
area's population, income brackets, and median age. You need to know who your
customers are.
When it comes to your products, convenience goods require easy access to let
the customer quickly make a purchase. But kitchen appliances buyers will
tolerate traveling out of their way to purchase this type of product.
Store Setup
Think about how you want to impress your customers when your enter the store,
and what functions the store should perform, and then list functional areas and
items needed to display and/or to use. Plan out how you will use each square
foot of floor space. Plan for fluid flow. Make sure that workers and customers
can easily move about in the space. Make a drawing of the space with precise
measurements.
Before signing a lease, be sure you understand all the rules, policies and
procedures related to your retail store location. Contact the local city hall
and zoning commission for information on regulations regarding signage. There
may be limits on the size and imagery used in signs that advertise your
business. Ask about any restrictions that may affect your retail operation and
any future planning that could change traffic, such as highway construction.
Consider every tiny detail of your store. You can affect a customer with even
the smallest sticker. Imagine that you are one of your future customers, and
consider what would make you more comfortable shopping in this store. Then you
try your best to realize them.
Products Selection for Your Store
The right product selection powers energetic growth not only of large
companies, but propels small businesses. Before considering what product to
sell, determine what market you want to sell to. sales success requires offering
the right product in the right place at the right time and for the right
customer. If your customers aren't buying, your consideration will be in vein.
So first you need to think about what kind of customer you want, then you'll be
able to determine their needs. Your product selection doesn't have to appeal to
all of the population but it should be something you can convince a large
percentage of shoppers they need. If your products only appeal greatly to some
people, it may not be enough to sustain a business.
It is quite essential for household appliances to do a market analysis on
what kind of products cater to customers as well as how to plan and implement
their marketing activities. The analysis should encompass the competitors,
customers, and products. You need to know what kind of products your competitors
offer, for which price and to whom. Besides, you need to know existing and
potential customers about their preference for design, function and sizes.
Market analysis can be done by conducting interviews, surveys and studies as
well as by using focus groups. Or you can get some reports from SMAD after
leaving your information and questions in the form.
Hire Employees
You need to hire different kinds of experienced employees according to your
store size and the products you are to sell. First of all, you need to decide on
the number of employees according to your store size. If you will run a
relatively large household appliance store, apart from the general staff, you
may also need to hire a manager to help you manage; if you are an owner of a
small store, you can act as a leader by yourself.
Between the experienced employees and new employees, you also have to take
many factors into account.
An experienced and reliable professional can hit the ground running with
little to no training. They efficiently fill the skills gap within your
organization and often bring strong communication and leadership skills to the
table.
Choosing to hire and train new employees who have no experience in your
industry also can result in enormous advantages for your business — just in
different ways. They may be more eager to learn new processes than their more
seasoned counterparts and may have fresh perspectives on ways to approach
situations or processes because they lack knowledge of industry best
practices.
As you navigate the start steps, be careful not to lose sight of why you’re
opening your retail business in the first place and keep vigilant of what is
happening around you. If you remember the passion that inspired you to launch
your business, you might even enjoy the process.